Holiday PR packages: Dos and Don'ts

We’re in the last few days of summer and although Halloween candy and decorations have just began trickling into stores that doesn’t mean it’s too early to start thinking of the holidays, in fact, many brands have already planned their holiday launches, campaigns, and promos! Don’t worry though, it’s not too late! It IS one of the biggest shopping seasons of the year though, so it’s a good idea to start planning now.

Every holiday season, many brands (especially lifestyle, skincare, and beauty brands) will begin reaching out to influencers to gift them their holiday launch products with the hope they will review them for their followers. And if they don’t have a holiday launch, brands may send something else, such as festive candy/chocolate or other products. These types of package mail outs are called PR packages.

WHY SEND A PR PACKAGE?

If you have scrolled through social media, you have seen an unboxing video of influencers showing off the product that they received in the mail. Many consumers enjoy watching PR unboxing videos on social media. For example, PR unboxing videos on YouTube can rack up thousands to hundreds of thousands of views. Wow, right? Furthermore, 8 out of every 10 consumers has purchased something after having seen it as a recommendation by an influencer. Influencers can be powerful ambassadors for your brand, so it’s valuable to build good relationships.

We’ve talked a bit about influencer marketing on a budget and PR packages before, you can check that out here but let’s revisit PR packages and take a look at the Do’s and Don’ts for this upcoming holiday season.

HOLIDAY PR PACKAGES DOS

1. Know your audience: Knowing your target audience plays an important role in all of your marketing – and PR packages are no different. When you know your audience, you can research the influencers who will best reach them. Think about your customer profile, which influencers also fit this profile? When you look at who your audience and competitors follow, are there certain influencers who keep cropping up? These are some of the questions you can ask yourself when deciding who you want to send PR packages to.

2. Choose your PR list carefully: It's important to choose your PR list carefully, especially if you’re a small business owner with limited resources. You want someone who will align with your brand and feel authentic.

3. Think carefully about what you want to give: Obviously the contents are important, so you’ll want to give careful thought to what you feature in your PR package. If you have a holiday launch coming up, this is the perfect opportunity to feature that as the main product. If you don’t have a holiday launch, you can choose something else such as one or more of your best sellers or, if the influencer is someone you’ve previously worked with, you may gift them products from your brand that you know they love.

4. Add a little something extra: You don’t have to give something over the top and extravagant but adding in a little something extra can make it more exciting. You can include items such as drink tumblers, mugs, water bottles, tote bags, etc. You can even choose something that fits with the season, such as a hot chocolate kit.

5. Add a personalized note: A handwritten, personalized note is a great way to make your package a little more memorable. This small but personal touch can help strengthen your relationship with influencers.

6. Include important info: An info card is a great addition to any PR package. You can include a brief description of your brand or products, and your social media handles, website, and contact email, so they know where to follow and contact you. You can even include a promo code that influencers can share with their followers which could increase the likelihood of a purchase.

7. Make it festive: We’re talking about holiday PR packages, so make it festive! Having trouble thinking of just how to do that? Well, think of holiday gifting in general! Use holiday themed cards, packaging (like tissue paper, wrapping paper, crinkle paper), or take that little something extra (point #4) and make it festive with holiday themed candy and chocolate, mugs, etc.

8. Pay attention to detail: This goes for every single point above because if you want your PR packages to be received well, you need to have every aspect well thought out.

HOLIDAY PR PACKAGES DON’TS

1. Don’t choose influencers based on follower count: While it’s great to have a major name talk about your brand, it’s not always the most effective. In fact, a study found that micro-influencers are able to generate 60% greater engagement than other campaigns because they have a greater bond with their followers. As mentioned above, you also want to choose influencers that align with your brand to make sure they are reaching your target audience.

2. Don’t think you have to gift something massive: If you’ve seen any PR unboxings, you may think you have to gift something elaborate or large, but you don’t! As we’ve mentioned previously a lot of influencers have spoken up and said they're against large PR packages for a variety of reasons. They often don’t keep every item, the extravagant boxes don’t make the launch any more interesting, or influencers just find them to be super wasteful.

3. Don’t be wasteful: OK, we touched on this briefly in the point above but what does it mean? This largely has to do with the packaging itself. Try to cut down on things like how much cardboard and plastic is used. You can also look into packaging options that are sustainable such as biodegradable packaging peanuts.

 The holidays are quickly approaching, so if you need a little more guidance, check out our other holiday blogs or contact us at hello@songbirdmarketing.com to find out how we can help you this holiday season!